1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to a technique for selecting and prioritizing choices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Users may be asked to indicate a priority (or rank) of selected answers in a multiple choice question in either a printed version or an online version of a survey. Priorities are also referred to as rankings.
Check boxes are widely used on paper and on computer media to select answers to multiple choice questions. The user action on check boxes is a toggle action that checks or unchecks the check box. When a check box is checked, the check box may be said to be selected or on. When a check box is not checked, the check box may be said to be unselected or off. A check box is selected by adding a check in the check box and is unselected by removing the check in the check box. For the printed medium, users use a writing instrument to draw an X or other mark inside the check box. For the online medium, users click with the mouse, or type tab, arrow keys, and spacebar to check or uncheck the check box.
For the printed medium (such as a questionnaire distributed on paper) and the online medium (such as a Web survey), a group of check boxes may be used to enable a user to select one or more answers to a question. Sometimes, there may be more than one answer to a question; therefore, multiple check boxes may be selected in a group. Thus, with a group of check boxes, user may check more than one choice (i.e., more than one check box). However, in conventional systems, there are inadequate techniques provided, if any, for a user to distinguish the priority or ranking order among selected choices.
In conventional systems, the techniques provided to distinguish priority or ranking order include use of a check box and an underscored space next to the check box where a ranking is to be entered after the check box is checked or just the underscored space (without the check box) where a ranking is to be entered (i.e., where a user may print a number for printed or online media or a drop down list for online media).
The use of the underscored space may be implemented as a simple edit field that is typically used with Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) in online media. However, the edit field is not naturally constrainable to allow only correct input. For example, with online media, if a conventional edit field enables a user to enter more than one digit or any digit out of a range of digits, then the edit field is not capable of providing feedback to help the user correct an incorrect value. Also, conventional edit fields are not capable of enforcing the requirement that when a user enters only one digit, then this digit is selected when the field has focus, so that another digit may replace the digit. With conventional edit fields, each digit a user types is inserted before or after a caret (which may look like a small I-beam), but when only one digit is permitted in a field, then the caret is misleading and irrelevant because the next character typed replaces the previous character typed, rather than being inserted before or after the previous character typed.
With online media, a drop-down list may enable a user to select a priority for a choice, but drop-down lists are not available on paper. Similarly, a combo box may enable a user to type or select a priority for a choice, but the combo box does not work on paper. A combo box may be described as a drop-down list with an edit field to display a selected value. A user may either select a value from the drop down or may change or replace the selected value using the edit field.
FIG. 1 illustrates a Graphical User Interface (GUI) with a column 100 of drop-down lists to construct an order-by clause in a SQL query. With drop-down lists, only valid values are available for a single choice, but a disadvantage is that the choices may be arbitrarily restricted. For example, in FIG. 1, there are numerous columns that may be included in the select clause, but the user is given only first, second, and third sorting orders. With the illustrated drop-down lists, a digit between one and three selects Ascending, then Descending if the user repeats the same digit. Similarly, typing N selects “No Sort.” However, as is illustrated in FIG. 1, inconsistent choices (e.g., skipped rankings and both Ascending and Descending order selected) may be entered and these are typically resolved by an arbitrary rule, so that the GUI doesn't show the exact order-by clause that is generated (unless a user clicks the “Generate Query” button to see the query). In the example of FIG. 1, the Descending dominates, but the relative order is preserved (e.g., baseName is used before nuPathName).
Moreover, a check box suggests that a choice must be made, which is not true of other conventional techniques, such as edit fields and drop-down lists, for specifying priorities, rankings, certainty factors, percentages, or allocations of a budget.
In print, a set of numbered scantron dots associated with each choice may be filled in with a number two pencil. This improves the ability of a computer to read a printed survey. Scantron dots are like sets of online radio buttons whose text is a number. With a set of radio buttons, only one may be selected. Sets of either scantron dots or radio buttons take more space as the number of choices increases, so the choices are typically pushed to a separate line under the description of the choice, rather than to the left or right of the description. Questions with an unequal number of choices means that alignment of the descriptions and the dots or radio buttons in columns may lead to wasted space.
A spin control accepts a limited set of numbered values that are typically selected by a user by scrolling scroll through the values with a pair of arrow buttons. A spin control may show ranking, but the spin control does not naturally indicate selection and does not work on printed media.
A list box may allow a user to make multiple, non-continuous selections and may move items in priority order, but a list does not work on printed media.
A table may have separate columns for selection and ranking. Selection may be indicated with a check box icon, and priority may be indicated by a digit and edited in an edit field. A table works on printed media, but a table is not compact and requires a great deal of user interaction because selection and ranking are in separate columns.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improved selection and prioritizing of choices.